Read More

* Being threatened by a man armed with a metal bar who shouted ‘why don’t you all go back to Pakistan’

* Having racist graffiti daubed across the front of the shop

* A member of staff being headbutted in the shop

CCTV footage of the armed robber as he attempts to get to the tills of the Supersaver Store in Litherland...

* A woman biting and punching a staff member

* Losing thousands of pounds of cigarettes in a burglary

* A drunk customer threatening to torch his shop after staff refused to give him a free bottle of vodka

* A brick being thrown through the shop’s window at tea-time as mums with children queued at the counter

* A member of staff being knocked unconscious after chasing after a suspected shoplifter

* An attempted robbery by a thug armed with a crowbar

CCTV of violent iincident at Supersaver on Pendle Drive when a member of staff was headbutted - resulted in a major confrontation between staff and thugs in doorway

In 2012, a report by Merseyside Fire and Rescue highlighted the estate as a blackspot for arson and hate crime. An area committee meeting in the same year also heard concerns about the estate.

Cllr Mark Dowd spoke out about the problems at the Supersaver shop and gave the example of a worker being knocked out.

Sergeant Stavros Koloktrone, from Copy Lane police station, told the committee that the neighbourhood police team had worked hard to prosecute the individuals responsible for anti-social behaviour.

Although crime remains a problem on the estate and across parts of south Sefton, Matt said he had not had a serious incident in this shop for years.

Shocking CCTV footage a man throwing a brick through the window of a Litherland supermarket. The brick smashed the window and entered the shop at head height, coming within a few feet of a woman's face.

He said: “The racism did shock me at first, because I was new to it. I wanted to explain to the people that I was from Sri Lanka and not from Pakistan, but they would not listen.

“When my staff started to suffer violence, I did not know what to do. One of the lowest moments was when a brick came through the window at tea-time, when the shop was full of customers. It missed a woman’s head by inches. That incident could have had tragic consequences.

“I think that was the lowest point, and after that we started to move forward. The police increased their presence on Pendle, and the SIGMA team was particularly helpful.

“Thankfully all that trouble is now behind us. Whatever the police did, it worked. We know arrests were made, and some people were taken to court.

“We just want to get on with our customers and thankfully that is now the case.”

Read More

Chief superintendent Paul White, area commander for Sefton, spoke to the ECHO about the Supersaver store on Pendle.

He said: “We were faced with a situation where there was a group of youths congregating outside the store, hurling racist and homophobic abuse at anyone they perceived to be different to them.

“I think the key to the response was a multi-agency approach. Sefton Council and One Vision Housing both contributed to the response.

“From our point of view the use of CRASBO orders stopped certain people who lived nearby from causing trouble on the estate. And anti-social behaviour contracts were used to stop people on the estate from causing problems.

“The other agencies offered diversionary activities on the estate, which helped. We fitted a special audio device at the counter in Supersaver, and a CCTV camera was fitted on Pendle Drive in 2014.

He added: “Anti-social behaviour remains a challenge across parts of Sefton , and we need communities to come forward and tell us what is happening.

“Fortunately the situation at the Supersaver store shows what we can achieve when we work together.”